


A Quest To Save A Kingdom

by Iknowyouknowleeknow



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, I have like three other things I'm in the middle of, M/M, but I didn't excute it as well as it was in my head, but I dropped them to write this, idk I was really excited about the idea, this would have worked better if I established their relationship more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 01:44:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18713983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iknowyouknowleeknow/pseuds/Iknowyouknowleeknow
Summary: “I can’t believe you finally chose me to go on a quest with you!” Jisung fumbled with the stiff leather of his boots, shoving his feet inside as Minho watched him impatiently from the doorway.The warrior had his arms folded across his chest and an annoyed expression on his face as he stared at Jisung, clearly not too thrilled about the events that were unfolding.“I didn’t have a choice,” Minho finally answered. “You’re the the only person with the skills this quest requires.”“Well, I’m still excited,” Jisung fished around under his bed until he came up with his sword, the ruby encrusted hilt earning him an eye roll from Minho. He wrapped the leather sheath around his slim waist and buckled it into place, enjoying the unfamiliar weight of the weapon against his side. “And now I’m ready.”





	A Quest To Save A Kingdom

“I can’t believe you finally chose me to go on a quest with you!” Jisung fumbled with the stiff leather of his boots, shoving his feet inside as Minho watched him impatiently from the doorway.

The warrior had his arms folded across his chest and an annoyed expression on his face as he stared at Jisung, clearly not too thrilled about the events that were unfolding.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Minho finally answered. “You’re the the only person with the skills this quest requires.”

“Well, I’m still excited,” Jisung fished around under his bed until he came up with his sword, the ruby encrusted hilt earning him an eye roll from Minho. He wrapped the leather sheath around his slim waist and buckled it into place, enjoying the unfamiliar weight of the weapon against his side. “And now I’m ready.”

Minho spun on the heel of his worn boots and started off down the hall, leaving Jisung to chase after him. 

They were halfway down when Jisung realized, “Oh wait, I forgot my cloak.”

A long drawn out sigh came from the boy in front of him and Jisung flushed, mumbling that he’d just be a second as he ran back to his room. He grabbed the cloak from his wardrobe and slung it over his shoulders as he reunited with Minho.

“This isn’t a game,” the older boy’s eyes were steely as he stared at Jisung. “I know you think this is going to be some sort of fun journey, but it’s not. The second we step foot outside these castle walls, our lives are in danger. And they will remain in danger until we return.”

“I know,” Jisung fingered at the golden claps of his cloak. “I’m not an idiot.”

“You’re not,” Minho agreed. “Your brain is the reason you’re coming with me. But you can’t fight.”

“I can fight!” Jisung voice was rich with indignation as Minho started off down the stone hall once again. “I’ve had plenty of sword fighting lessons.”

Minho rounded on him so suddenly Jisung nearly crashed into him, the warrior’s midnight cloak snapping around them both in his barely concealed fury, “Have you ever drawn swords against an actual enemy? Against someone who will not stop until it’s either their life or your life bleeding out on the ground? This is not play fighting with wooden swords in the courtyard. You know nothing and I’m the fool who might lose his life because of it.”

Minho stalked off again, his long strides carrying him far from Jisung as he stood there numb, the implication of the other boy’s words finally setting in.

He could get Minho killed because he didn’t know how to properly defend himself. The warrior would be looking out for both of them and had no one to watch his back in the case of a fight. Two lives were in his hands, capable hands yes, but Jisung was still a burden.

He hurried quietly after the other boy, following him down through the great hall and out into the courtyard. They were heading towards the stables and Jisung stomach sank. He caught up to Minho, voice quiet, “I can’t ride.”

The warrior stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath, his eyes fluttering closed. Jisung could tell he was trying to calm himself and after a few seconds his eyes snapped open again, “Fine. You’ll ride with me. It’ll be uncomfortable, both for us and the horse, but we don’t have much choice.”

“I’m sorry,” Jisung said softly as they entered the cool dampness of the stables. “I’m sorry you have to risk so much for me.”

“I’m risking it for the kingdom, not for you.” Minho came to a halt in front of the largest stall in the stables, his hand resting gently on the wooden door. “And you’re risking it all too. I cannot fault you for being trained in books and not in war. You’re the prince’s advisor after all. Were we sparring with knowledge, you would best me every time. And that’s why you’re coming with me. I need to remember that. This isn’t your fault. ”

Jisung nodded, his guilt still weighing on him as heavy as the sword at his side. He would never forgive himself if he miraculously made it out alive and Minho didn’t.

Lost in thought, Jisung had failed to notice that Minho had unlatched the stall door. A sudden snort ruffled Jisung’s hair and he glanced up, eyes widening as he took in the beast Minho had released.

The Percheron was massive, his star marked head towering well above both boys as Minho coaxed him out of the stall. Jisung stumbled backwards, awestruck as Minho vaulted onto the stallion’s bare back. One hand tangled in the silken black strands of his mane and the other reached down towards Jisung.

Jisung cowered as the beast pawed at the ground with thunderous hooves, his head tossing and turning as he continued to snort.

“I-I can’t,” Jisung hated how weak he sounded, but the brute in front of him had robbed him of all courage. “He’s too big.”

“He’s fine,” Minho leaned forwards and murmured something to the horse, his heels nudging into his side. The creature suddenly bowed, front legs folding gracefully and bringing the large expanse of his back much closer to the ground. “Come on.”

Jisung held a trembling hand out to Minho and the warrior grabbed it, instructing Jisung to place a foot on the beast’s side as Minho hauled him up. Once Jisung was seated uncomfortably behind him, Minho gave a soft tug on the stallion’s mane. The horse rose to his full height and Jisung screamed, instinctively wrapping his arms tightly around Minho’s waist as he pressed his face into the soft material of the warrior’s midnight cloak.

“Calm down,” Minho chuckled as the horse danced outside, seemingly unbothered by the combined weight of the two boys. “Bucephalus isn’t going to drop us.”

“We’re going to die, oh gods, we’re going to die,” Jisung moaned into Minho’s back, too terrified to open his eyes and see just how high above the ground they were.

“If you spend the whole journey clinging to me and hindering me from fighting, then yes, we are going to die.”

Jisung lifted his face and shifted back slightly, but he kept his arms tight around Minho’s waist. They still hadn’t left the castle yard, so he didn’t think it was too much of an issue just yet, “This is madness.”

“It is,” Minho agreed easily. “But Bucephalus should be the least of your worries.”

“Just how big is this beast?” Jisung snuck a quick peek at the ground, blanching when he saw how far below the cobblestone courtyard was.

“19 hands,” Minho’s voice was rich with pride. “He’s the greatest warhorse in the kingdom. I’ve raised him since he was just a foal. He will not harm you.”

“I’m going to fall off if I’m not holding on to you. And if I am holding on then you can’t fight.”

“Just hold on to my cloak.” They approached the front gates of the castle and Minho nodded to the guards there as they scrambled to open the gate and lower the drawbridge. “If we run into trouble, I’ll handle it. In the event of something going wrong, stay on Bucephalus. He’ll know how to bring you home.”

Jisung swallowed thickly as the stallion’s hooves clattered over the wood of the bridge, “You mean if you die?”

“I don’t plan on dying, but yes, if something happens to me, stay on Bucephalus. Dig your heels as hard as you can into his sides and hold on tight to his mane. He can outrun almost anything. All you need to do is stay on.”

“I don’t feel very prepared for this quest.”

“You were excited twenty minutes ago,” Minho reminded him as they clattered through the bustling village that surrounded the castle. “What happened?”

“You happened,” Jisung unwound his arms from Minho’s strong waist and clutched at his cloak instead, struggling to find his balance as the horse picked his way towards the edge of town. “I realize how real this all is now.”

“It’s much different reading about quests in your books, or hearing about them second hand after we come back successful.” The dark woods loomed ahead of them, full of creatures and fears that Jisung had only ever visited in nightmares. “The royal family failed you when they did not train you in the way of the warriors.”

“I asked once,” Jisung murmured quietly, his eyes vigilant as Bucephalus crossed the tree line. “They told me that a scholar did not need to know how to fight with swords, only with words. But they agreed to let me have sword fighting lessons if that was what I truly desired. As you pointed out earlier, I never actually got far enough to fight with a real sword.”

“It’s unheard of to send someone untrained out on such a dangerous quest, but your brain is something no one else in this kingdom possesses. I argued against setting out so quickly, but the enemies from the west are closing in and we are running out of time.”

“What’s going on anyway?” Jisung was starting to feel a bit more comfortable on the stallion’s back and he removed one hand from Minho’s cloak to instead wrap it around the hilt of the sword at his own waist. He did not want to be caught off guard.

“The enemies have somehow managed to tame the dragons that live in the mountainous caves on the far side of their lands. We are doomed if we cannot figure out a way to stop them. There is only one man alive who was around the last time the dragons were tamed and it is he who took them down.”

Jisung vaguely remembered reading a story of such a time, hundreds of years in the past. More than three quarters of the kingdom was wiped out before a young wizard was able to defeat the dragons. 

“What does this have to do with me?”

“A band of warriors were sent out to approach the wizard and beg for his help. He refused to give it. He said he would only speak to the one person in the kingdom he deemed worthy of his knowledge. That person is you.”

Jisung blinked, his fingers twisting in the warrior’s raven cloak, “Me?”

Minho nodded, “He said only you have the capacity to understand what must be done. He spoke incredibly highly of your intelligence. But by the time we returned to retrieve you, the enemies had gotten so close to the border that the king refused to send the whole band back out. They were assigned to the battlefront and I was assigned to guide you.”

“So, no pressure or anything,” Jisung laughed, the implication of their journey settling heavy in his heart. The fate of their entire kingdom rested in his incapable hands. What if something happened to Minho before they reached the wizard? Jisung had no idea how to get there or how to stay alive in the dangerous woods.

As if Minho could hear his thoughts, he suddenly spoke, “If something happens to me, return home as I told you before. Tell the king. He will find someone else to guide you if it is not too late. If it is too late, then my death was inevitable anyway.”

“How much time do we have?”

Minho shrugged lightly, but Jisung could see the tension in shoulders, “Three days. Perhaps four.”

“And how long is this journey?”

“If we face no trouble along the way, it will take us a day and a half to reach the wizard.”

Jisung made a decision, “Stop the horse. Teach me how to fight.”

“What?” Minho whipped his head around, eyes shocked. “Did you not hear how little time we have?”

“An hour. Maybe two. That’s all I’ll need. I just want to get used to the weight and feel of the sword. I would feel much more comfortable if I could be an actual help to you in a fight.”

“We don’t have time for lessons.” 

“This is not a request,” Jisung wasn’t sure where the boldness in his voice was coming from, but he refused to sit here and be vulnerable. The fate of everyone he knew was at stake and the only thing he’d ever stuck with a sword were the ugly tapestries that hung from the stone walls of his room. “You will teach me.”

“You aren’t the king,” Minho leaned forwards and Bucephalus picked up his pace, the forest ground quickly being eaten up under his hooves. “I do not have to do as you order.”

“I may not be the king, but I still rank higher than you.”

“The kingdom is at stake!”

“That’s why I need to know how to fight! I will not be a passive bystander to the destruction of our world!”

Bucephalus came to halt, so sudden that Jisung crashed into Minho’s back, nearly falling off the stallion as he clutched desperately at Minho’s cloak.

“Fine,” Minho huffed. “Get down.”

Bucephalus bowed once again and Jisung shakily climbed off, his legs already useless after mere minutes of being on the beast’s back. He brushed at his trousers and straightened his cloak before glancing up to look for Minho.

He was met with the deadly blade of the warrior’s sword.

“Woah,” he stepped back, bumping into the heaving side of the black stallion. “What are you doing?”

“You want to know how to fight?” Minho made no move to lower the sword, eyes narrowed as they locked on Jisungs, “Lesson one, never let down your guard.”

Jisung drew his own sword, accidentally tangling his arm in the crimson of his cloak as he struck out clumsily at Minho.

The sword was easily knocked from his grasp and he was quick to pick it back up, holding it out in front of him as Minho slashed at him once again.

Bucephalus stood and meandered away, opening up Jisung’s back to an attack. Minho spun, ducked and had the sword against Jisung’s throat before he could even blink.

“We do not have time for technique,” Minho lowered the weapon. “Slash hard and slash often. Keep your reflexes sharp. Parry any shots at you as best you can. For you to have a chance, you are going to have to deal damage before they can swing at you.”

Minho stepped back and gestured for Jisung to carry on, watching as the younger boy sliced the small sapling in front of him to ribbons. 

He offered advice every few minutes; on Jisung’s grip, on the position of his feet, on the speed of his cuts.

Jisung was slashing at a bush when Minho told him they had to get going again. Bucephalus was back and Minho mounted him, the stallion side-stepping towards where Jisung stood, chest heaving and body soaked with sweat.

Jisung sheathed his sword as Minho reached down, hand tightening around his wrist. The stallion ducked and Minho tugged, lifting Jisung back into position behind him. Exhausted, Jisung clutched at Minho’s waist with one hand and rested his forehead in the space between the warrior’s shoulder blades. A small voice in the back of his head told him how unsafe the position was, how vulnerable it left them for attack, but the ache in his arms and shoulders from the hour of work were screaming at him to rest.

Minho didn’t say anything to him and Jisung quickly fell asleep, Bucephalus’s soft footfalls the only sound.

-

“Jisung!”

Jisung blinked awake, lost and confused as he stared up into the pretty face of his companion. He rubbed sleepily at his eyes with one had as Minho pressed a chunk of bread into his other. 

“We’re stopping for the night. There’s a river nearby. Bucephalus wandered down there as soon as I lifted you off his back and I’m going to go get some water for us. Will you be okay if I leave you here for five minutes?”

Jisung nodded, popping the bread into his mouth. “I’ll be fine,” he promised through stuffed cheeks.

Minho didn’t seem entirely convinced, but Jisung waved him away, one hand falling to the hilt of his sword, “I’ll be okay. Really.”

“I’ll back in an instant. If something happens, scream.”

Jisung nodded again and Minho took off, threading quietly threw the trees in the direction of the running water. Jisung leaned back against the tree Minho had set him down near, happily munching on his bread.

The fogginess of sleep had yet to leave him when he suddenly heard a noise from his left, the opposite direction from where Minho had gone. Stupidly, he called out anyway, “Minho?”

The creature that stepped through the trees was decidedly not Minho. 

Jisung scrambled to his feet, brandishing his sword as the ogre grinned menacingly, a spike studded club dragging along behind him. 

“Stay back!” Jisung held out his sword, hoping his voice sounded more confident in the ears of the ogre than it did in his own. “I’m not afraid to kill you.”

The ogre advanced quicker than Jisung was expecting and he swung wildly, screaming as the creature lifted his own weapon.

It was over before Jisung could even registering it happening. The ogre lay dead at his feet, blood oozing from the gaping hole in his neck.

Jisung stumbled backwards, sword dropping from his grasp as his hands fell to his own wound. He may not know much about fighting, but he did know about injuries. And he knew his was fatal.

He collapsed to the ground as Minho came crashing through the trees, his eyes frantic. When he saw Jisung lying there in a pool of his own blood, he let out a strangled cry, dropping to his knees besides the dying boy.

“No, Jisung!” The warrior carefully lifted him, cradling him in his arms as Jisung’s last few breaths stuttered over his lips. “You can’t die! I can’t do this without you!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Jisung lifted a weak hand to caress Minho’s cheek, marveling at the tears that stained his skin. His hand dropped back down and he took one last look at the beautiful boy before his eyes drifted shut forever.

“Dammit, Jisung!” Minho cursed, throwing his controller across the room as Jisung stared at the ‘GAME OVER’ flashing on the tv. “We didn’t even make it through day one. I’m not playing with you anymore. I’m calling Felix.”

Jisung dropped his own controller and launched himself at his boyfriend, wrestling his phone away from him with a pout, “You always play with Felix. Maybe if you played with me more I wouldn’t be so awful at this stupid game.”

“Maybe I’d play with you more if you weren’t so awful,” Minho retaliated, snatching his phone back but making no move to push Jisung off his chest. “How did you let a level two ogre kill you? That’s pathetic, even for you.”

“I actually killed myself with my own sword,” Jisung snuggled closer to his boyfriend but was rudely pushed off when his words registered.

“You did what now?”

“The game is poorly designed,” Jisung defended himself, arms crossed tightly across his chest. “You shouldn’t be able to injure yourself with your own weapon.”

“Why did you have your weapon facing yourself in the first place?” the exasperation was clear in Minho’s voice. “Oh god, I’m in love with an idiot.”

“I was slashing around like your character told me to!” Jisung pouted, “This is not my fault.”

Minho got up and retrieved his controller, pressing it into Jisung’s hands, “You be the warrior this time. I’ll be the advisor. At least if you get killed, I can still keep going.”

Ten minutes later his head was in his hands, groaning as Jisung blinked in disbelief at the screen.

“I didn’t even know it was possible for both of us to be trampled to death by Bucephalus. You truly are something else.”

**Author's Note:**

> Bucephalus was Alexander the Great's horse  
> He was believed to be a Thessalian, but those aren't really as big as I wanted my horse to be in this so I went with a Percheron as the breed  
> Percherons were used as warhorses and they are absolutely massive, so I thought that would be fitting  
> Not sure why these notes are turning into a horse lecture but here we are  
> As always, thank you so much for reading  
> I have a bit of a longer, more cutesy one shot that I'm working on and was planning on finishing today  
> But then I was hit with the overwhelming need to write this story so that didn't happen  
> Anyway, I hope everyone is having a lovely day/night


End file.
